Disturb us, Lord...

God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. Phil 1:8

While walking this morning, my brother and I spoke about goals. Specifically about where he is currently in life versus where he’d hoped to be at this point. The subject came up because of something his pastor talked about during Wednesday night’s Bible study.

His pastor shared that each morning he asks God to guide his steps for the day because his plan may not always be what God had in mind. For example he used the Apostle Paul. Paul was active. He wanted to be in the trenches working alongside the young churches, but between shipwrecks, imprisonment, and various other roadblocks, that wasn’t always possible. So instead he wrote letters. Not a single one of those early churches remain, but his letters have served as a beacon of light and a tool of instruction for countless generations.

Paul had a vision. God’s was even bigger.

Our conversation reminded me of a poem attributed to Sir Francis Drake:

Disturb us, Lord, when


We are too well pleased with ourselves,

When our dreams have come true

Because we have dreamed too little,

When we arrived safely

Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when

With the abundance of things we possess

We have lost our thirst

For the waters of life;

Having fallen in love with life,

We have ceased to dream of eternity

And in our efforts to build a new earth,

We have allowed our vision

Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,

To venture on wider seas

Where storms will show your mastery;

 Where losing sight of land,

 We shall find the stars.

We ask You to push back

The horizons of our hopes;


And to push into the future

In strength, courage, hope, and love.

To that I would add:

Disturb us, Lord, when

We feel that the work You’ve call us to serves little purpose,

When we content ourselves with mediocrity

Rather than boldly seeking

The path You’ve set before us,

Fully realizing the gifts You have bestowed upon us,

And instead blindly attempt to find our way alone.